On July 18, 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill (AB) 2008, authored by Assemblyman Fuentes (D-Sylmar). The bill affects the expiration dates for tentative maps or vesting tentative maps approved by local agencies under the Subdivision Map Act. The Subdivision Map Act requires an approved tentative map or vesting tentative map to expire 24 months after its approval, or after an additional period of time prescribed by local ordinance, not to exceed 12 months. AB 2008 adds section 66452.23 to the Government Code in order to extend by 24 months the expiration date of any approved tentative map or vesting tentative map that has not expired as of the effective date of the act and will expire prior to January 1, 2014. A similar bill (AB 333) providing a 24-month extension to expiring maps was adopted in 2009.

The bill also amends section 65961 of the Government Code to require that, where a tentative map has been extended by law, a public agency is prohibited from requiring conformance with any conditions of approval imposed on the tentative map as a condition of building permit issuance for a three-year period after final map recording. For maps which have not been extended, the same prohibition period is five years.

The Governor’s action protects the thousands of tentative maps that are currently approved but have not been implemented due to the down housing market and the struggling economy.